Survivor Caramoan Episode 6 Recap: Tribe Swap, The New Power Tribe

With Episode 6, this season has entered a new stage. As expected, the Fans and Favorites mix and the new tribes will take us to the merge.  Let's get into it.

Pure harmony

At the very beginning, Gota was still recovering from Brandon's meltdown. Several tribe members are still visually shaken from the confrontation.  The tribe comes together and talks about what happened, and seem to be working very well together. Besides the tension between Phillip and Corinne, the tribe is for the most part a very unified group of 8. They remain a powerhouse even with a switch.

Battle of the Generations

Next we see a switch, done in place of the expected reward challenge.  Players chose teams based on the smashing egg method, and we are left with precarious new tribes. With exceptions of Sherri, Cochran, and Julia, the teams consist of the "Bold and The Beautiful" Gota (according to Cochran) and the older, less-athletic Bikal tribe. However, it seems that both tribes are happy with their members, and Matt comments on how he's happy to be with the Bikal tribe.  Unfortunately, these groupings are quite imbalanced when it comes to any type of physical challenge. Bikal will likely only see success in a communication, puzzle, or eating challenge (which may happen this season according to Jeff Probst's twitter account).

"I'm an accomplished liar when it comes to women"

Back at the Gota tribe, the Fans are spilling information left and right. Sherri openly talks of her dislike of Reynold and Eddie with tribemates Brenda and Andrea.  Within an hour, Reynold and Eddie talk to Malcolm and Eric about their feud with Sherri. In the little time we see of Gota, Andrea and Malcolm share information on the dysfunctional Fans and the two solidify plans to eliminate to Fans (likely Reynold first).  In an especially sly move, Malcolm lies to Andrea about not having the idol while it is literally around his wrist.  On the Gota side, the Favorites are still in control for now.

At Bikal, the team seems to be working well together. The Favorites are still very much the dominant force in the team, with Phillip, Dawn, Corinne, and Cochran outnumbering Mike, Matt, and Julia.  But for Phillip, an alliance can never be too big.  While they are making fire, Phillip plants the seeds for later alliance by hinting that he may want to work with her in the future. Julia's open, but a little unsure why Phillip is targeting her. Obviously, the rest of the Fans are upset with Phillip for doing this, but Phil seems to be far from being voted out. There is more pressing business: eliminating the Fans.

Crates? No big deal

We have another throwback challenge that's entitled "Crate Expectations." The Heroes dominated this challenge behind Boston Rob in season 20, and it was another blowout tonight.  The young, strong Gota tribe blew past Bikal from the beginning and never looked back.  While the young Eddie and Erik manhandle the boxes, Philip (who goes back to back for some reason) and Julia struggle to keep up. The Bold and the Beautiful finish their entire staircase before Bikal has one box correctly placed. Blowout.

Can an alliance be too big?

Strategy continues over at Bikal. In typical Phillip fashion, he attempts to lead Matt and Mike into thinking that could soon be admitted into Stealth-R-Us if they obey the commands of the alliance. At a meeting of the Bikal Favorites alliance, Phillip pushes for Julia to go. Mike and Matt act a suppliants to Phillip, and are willing to go with his plan to vote Julia. M and M then convince Julia to vote Dawn, staying loyal to the Specialist.

The quiet strategist lurks

Cochran advocates a change of plans. Thinking strategically, he sees Mike and Matt as a "power couple" who could be dangerous together. Corinne remarks that she is sure that Matt doesn't have the idol, so they could eliminate him without needing to split the votes.  In a surprising conclusion the Favorites alliance all go for Matt after Cochran's proposal. Just like that, the Fan who was best placed strategically last episode is gone in episode 6. Michael and Julia are in grave danger. It would take a big surprise for them them to stay much longer.

I think movement in the Gota tribe could be the next storyline in the game.  Malcolm claims to be loyal to the favorites, but he hides the idol from Andrea when she asks him. There seemed to be some chemistry between Malcolm, Reynold and Eddie based on the little we saw. Malcolm is on good terms with everyone on the dominant tribe in the game.  Could we see a Fan-Favorite alliance. This could be the case next week. I can't wait.

A new power alliance?